1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to handheld ultrasound instruments having various diagnostic modes and transducer assemblies incorporating a balance body design, or other form factor to reduce strain of use during scanning procedures.
2. Description of the Background Art
As is well known, modern ultrasonic diagnostic systems are large, complex instruments. Today""s premium ultrasound systems, while mounted in carts for portability, continue to weigh several hundred pounds. In the past, ultrasound systems such as the ADR 4000 ultrasound system produced by Advanced Technology Laboratories, Inc., assignee of the present invention, were smaller, desktop units about the size of a personal computer. However, such instruments lacked many of the advanced features of today""s premium ultrasound systems such as color Doppler imaging and three dimensional display capabilities. As ultrasound systems have become more sophisticated they have also become bulkier.
However, with the ever increasing density of digital electronics, it is now possible to foresee a time when ultrasound systems will be able to be miniaturized to a size even smaller than their much earlier ancestors. The physician is accustomed to working with a hand held ultrasonic scanhead that is about the size of an electric razor. It would be desirable, consistent with the familiar scanhead, to be able to compact the entire ultrasound system into a scanhead-sized unit. It would be further desirable for such an ultrasound instrument to retain as many of the features of today""s sophisticated ultrasound systems as possible, such as speckle reduction, color Doppler and three dimensional imaging capabilities.
The tendency has been the smaller systems also lose attributes of their larger stationary cousins due to limitations in space and power availability, the same factors that increase portability. An inverse relation exists between size and feature set. The use of digital beamformers and digital signal processing has allowed the expansion of capabilities of the smaller, more portable ultrasound systems relative to their predecessors. Recent releases of product like the SonoSite 180 have demonstrated the ability of manufacturers to reduce the size and weight of an ultrasound system while still delivering acceptable performance. As technology improves in both digital signal processing and power management, there remains a need for providing a hand held or portable ultrasound system that delivers acceptable performance characteristics, and at the same time is easy to use. There also remains a need for providing a method of being able to reduce costs to the users of ultrasound systems by providing an affordable and easily obtainable upgrade path to such user friendly ultrasound systems, both for hardware elements, and software.
The present invention relates to hand held ultrasound systems providing the advances of digital signal processing and advanced human factors usability. The various design elements of the ultrasound systems presented herein are based on a series of common system electronics detailed in previously listed co-pending applications.
The present invention is a diagnostic hand held ultrasound system weighing less than three and a half pounds (3.50 lbs), including a battery, display screen and system electronics within a common enclosure and a transducer. The common enclosure comprises a balance body design having an aperture, said aperture having a design for operating as a handle. A plurality of control elements are positioned substantially near the aperture such that a person may carry said system and utilize at least one of the plurality of control elements with the a single hand. Also a main board having the battery and the system electronics arranged such that the aperture is positioned at least partially between the battery and the system electronics. A sample data beamformer and at least one digital signal processor (DSP) capable of producing 2D and 3D images are contained within the system electronics.
In a second embodiment of the present invention, a medical ultrasound system comprising a balance body incorporating system electronics, a power supply and a user interface wherein said user interface comprises a D-controller and a touch screen and a transducer assembly attached to said balanced body via a cable. Control of the control of the medical ultrasound device is achieved through selecting through a series of window menus either by using the D-controller or the touch screen or a combination of both. The second embodiment is lightweight and preferably weighs less than three and a half (3.50 lbs) pounds and the balance body can be held with the same hand that operates the D-controller. Optionally the system further comprises an I/O port for connecting to a docking station, and a handle.
In a third embodiment, we describe a lightweight diagnostic ultrasound instrument comprising a body having a power supply, a user interface for controlling the instrument, a display screen, and a system electronics package capable of a plurality of diagnostic ultrasound modes, said body weighing less than three pounds; a transducer assembly comprising a digital beam former, an A/D converter circuit, and a transducer array, the transducer assembly weighing less than one pound; and a wire connecting said body and said transducer assembly, the wire having a path for feeding power from the power supply to the transducer assembly, and a signal path for transmitting digital signals between the system electronics and the transducer assembly.
In a fourth embodiment we describe a wireless diagnostic ultrasound system comprising; a first body having system electronics, a user interface having a display screen and at least one control element, a first wireless transmit/receive element and a first power supply, said first body weighing less than two pounds; and a second body having a digital beam former, an A/D converter circuit, a transducer array, a second power supply, and a second transmit/receive element such that the digital beam former can be controlled by the system electronics via the first and second transmit/receive elements, said second body weighing less than one pound.
In still another embodiment, we describe a lightweight medical ultrasound system comprising a first body having system electronics, a first transmit/receive element and a first power supply, said first body weighing less than two pounds; a second body having a digital beam former, an A/D converter circuit, a transducer array, a second power supply, a second transmit/receive element and at least one control element, said second body weighing less than one pound; and a headset comprising a visual display, a receive element and a third power supply such that the first body, second body and head set are in communication with each other through the first and second transmit/receive element and the receive element so that a user may control the system through the at least one control element of the second body, while the first body performs the diagnostic operations through said system electronics, and the user may see the operations through the visual display of the head set.
In yet another embodiment, we describe a system as detailed above wherein the first body and the second body are incorporated into a single transducer assembly weighing less than two pounds and sharing a single power supply and having a single transmit/receive element.
Methods of using the various embodiments are also provided. These and other embodiment of the present invention will become readily apparent upon a detailed inspection of the detailed description of the invention, and a study of the appended claims.